Air Forces Central announced March 15 that an airman working with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, was killed that day by an improvised explosive device. The name of the airman is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by Department of Defense officials.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.